Job Discussion Forums

oxford123 · Joined: 22 Jan 2010 Posts: 9

Effective from Sep. 2010, all instructors/lecturers working at ELI, King Abdulaziz University will have to be MA holders at least. Even the BA holders working now there will be kicked out (no contract renewal ) no later than this coming June, and only MA & PHD holders will dodge axing !! This information has been confirmed by many reliable insiders in the workforce department...Alas[/b]! too bad !!

doner · Joined: 21 Jan 2010 Posts: 179

Good luck finding native speakers on the money they pay.

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

The obsession with doctorates is a common feature in Saudi educational institutions.

oxford123 · Joined: 22 Jan 2010 Posts: 9

I think the whole issue is being stirred by an illusion to get accredited by a certain American institution (which, it seems, stipulated that the staff in ELI are underqualified !!) hence their insistence on raising the qualification threshold to PhDs and MAs at least ! this will make their chances fewer to attract native speakers though !
Thank God where I work, the boss does't give a damn to my lousy BA !! Very Happy

is it beacuse i'm a native speaker ? YEPPPPPP

lazycomputerkids · Joined: 22 Sep 2009 Posts: 360 Location: Tabuk

johnslat · Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 7:00 pm Post subject:

Dear lazycomputerkids,

"They often seek better pay and position elsewhere upon arrival and too often consider teaching a nuisance and its success a matter of a student's willingness to appreciate their expertise by mere implication."

During my time at the IPA, almost all my colleagues were MA or PhD holders (I have an MA in English Education.)

I can't say that among the literally hundreds of such colleagues that I worked with, I ever found the above (in bold) to be the case.

Regards,
John

lazycomputerkids · Joined: 22 Sep 2009 Posts: 360 Location: Tabuk

John

I would not argue another's experience. Moreover, yours: Given the thoughtfulness, articulation and self-effacing quality of your posts. I'll offer so sweeping a statement to which you offer contention should likely be revised for its convenience and challenged to offer support.

In short, the statement is too cynical to be believed.

And yet, would you agree the nature of our business becomes less cooperative and more competitive and proprietary?

LCK

johnslat · Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 7:56 pm Post subject:

Dear lazycomputerkids,

"And yet, would you agree the nature of our business becomes less cooperative and more competitive and proprietary?"

Well, first I need some clarification: Are you writing about the employers, the employees or both?

If it's the employees, I've found very few colleagues - virtually none - who favored competition over cooperation. Maybe it's part of the nature of teaching, which, after all, is to share what we have/know with others. My colleagues were always most generous in offering help in the form of information, advice and/or materials to other teachers. Perhaps that's not so in the experience of others, but having been around a while (thirty-two years teaching) in a number of different locations (at least a dozen,) it's always been what I've found to be the case.
If it's the employers, well, for almost all of them it IS a business, and so I
suppose that competition is the name of the game in many cases. But never having been an employer, I can't really speak from any first-hand knowledge.

Regards,
John

oxford123 · Joined: 22 Jan 2010 Posts: 9

is it legal to sack teachers simply beacuse their degrees don't meet accreditaion requirements? sacking BA holders in ELI means sending 2/3 of the staff to kingabdulaziz AIRPORT by July 2010 with a final exit stamp on their passports !! then, wait a minute guys! what's this insane obsession with accreditation? can't they just teach the kids and work quietly? someone explain this mystery

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

They are not being sacked. Their contracts are not being renewed. "Accreditation" is a buzzword in Saudi institutions of higher education at the moment. Clearly someone in the Ministry in Riyadh thinks it is important.

eclectic · Joined: 09 Nov 2006 Posts: 1122

Given my experience with the wishy-washiness of the KSA recruiting process/e-mail follows-up/telephone calls/paperwork nebulae, etc., I wouldn't be the LEAST surprised if this new policy suddenly upped and twisted and ran pell-mell, willy-nilly, helter-skelter back around 180 degrees or so by the Vernal Equinox.

Mia Xanthi · Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 2:58 am Post subject:

Accreditation, whether by the Saudi Ministry of Education or by American accrediting authorities, is certainly not just a "buzzword". It is a way of making sure that students don't end up being fleeced by fly-by-night institutions of higher educations by ascertaining that the accredited university upholds proper academic standards. Furthermore, it is the only process that will ever stop the "give 'em all As and let 'em pass" mentality that has pervaded Saudi education since it began.

johnslat · Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 3:34 am Post subject:

Dear Mia,

I could be wrong, but I think that maybe what scot meant was the "higher-degree" mania that is so prevalent in Saudi.

Accreditation IS important - for BAs, MAs or PhDs. But as we all know, some teachers with "only" BAs can teach rings around some of the "Ph.Ds" (at least around many of the ones that I saw teaching in Saudi.)
Regards,

John

Stephen Jones · Joined: 21 Feb 2003 Posts: 4124

Accreditation by US institutions for Saudi Universities is a joke. Vast amounts of paperwork for very little profit.

007 · Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 11:53 am Post subject: